Random access positioning apparatus for article selection



A ril 2, 1968 s. H. PITT 3,37

RANDOM ACCESS POSITIONING APPARATUS FOR ARTICLE SELECTION Filed June 22, 1965 5 Sheets-Sheet l L INVENTOR SOLOMON H. PITT AGENT v. A

5. H. PITT April 2, 1968 RANDOM ACCESS POSITIONING APPARATUS FOR ARTICLE SELECTION 5 Sheets-Sheet Filed June 22, 1965 April 2, 1968 s. H. PITT 3,3

RANDOM ACCESS POSITIONING APPARATUS FOR ARTICLE SELECTION Filed June 22, 1965 '5 Sheets-Sheet a D ELECTRICAL BINARY SLOTS ALIGNEO DEOIMAL DIGIT INPUT TO SOLENOID ALONG AXIS OUTPUT X= DISTANCE FROM SLOT F TO THE ABUTTED SURFACE OF LOOATOR BLOCK 86.

d= DISTANCE BETWEEN AXIS A,B,ETO.

t= THROW OF SOLENOID.

April 2, 1968 s. H. PITT 3,376,565

RANDOM ACCESS POSITIONING APPARATUS FOR ARTICLE SELECTION Filed June 22, 1965 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 BINARY 2 SIGNAL SOURCE April 2, 1968 P|TT 3,376,565

RANDOM ACCESS POSITIONING APPARATUS FOR ARTICLE SELECTION Filed June 22, 1965 INPUT INPUT 5 Sheets-Sheet United States Patent Ofiice 3,375,565 Patented Apr. 2, 1968 3,376,565 RANDOM ACCESS POSITIONING APPARATUS FOR ARTICLE SELECTION Solomon H. Pitt, Norristown, Pa., assignor to Sperry Rand Corporation, New York, N.Y., a corporation of Delaware Filed June 22, 1965, Ser. No. 465,983 6 Claims. (Cl. 340174.1)

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A container or magazine is provided which contains a plurality of articles arranged in sequential order. The container may be slida bly moved between advanced and retracted terminal positions whereby the articles contained therein may be sequentially positioned over a utilization point located along the path of container movement. A detent mechanism carried by the container slides over a set of slotted binary coded selector bars. The selector bars can be positioned to arrest the container motion so that any selected article carried by the container will be located at the :point of utilization.

The invention hereinafter described and claimed has to do with apparatus making possible the random selection of items in a sequentially arranged group. More particularly, however, the invention relates to apparatus for positioning a group of sequentially arranged articles whereby selected ones of said articles may be utilized or removed from said group. With still more specificity the invention pertains to apparatus for moving a magazine holding a plurality of articles, such as magnetic tape cartridges, relative to a work station and in response to coded signals stopping a selected one .of said cartridges at the work station wherein it may be utilized.

The broad primary object of the invention is to provide novel random access positioning apparatus.

Another object of the invention is to provide random access positioning apparatus for selectively positioning one of a number of articles at a work station in positon for utilization.

Still another object is to provide random access positioning apparatus which is operable in response to binary coded signals randomly to select ones of sequentially arranged articles.

A more specific object of the invention is to provide random access positioning apparatus for moving a container or magazine through a work station whereby one of a number of magnetic tape cartridges contained in the magazine may be utilized.

A still further object is to provide such positioning apparatus which is characterized by its simplcty and reliability of operation.

In accordance with the above, and first briefly described, the invention comprises a container or magazine wherein a means are provided for moving the magazine whereby a plurality of articles are arranged in a sequential order, ,and means are provided for moving the magazine whereby the articles are moved sequentially to a point of utilization or work station. When the selected article reaches the work station, means responsive to coded signals stops the magazine so that the selected article may be utilized there or even removed from the magazine.

While the invention is of much broader applicability, as indicated above, and as will be brought out more clearly hereinafter, it is specifically useful in connection with apparatus for positioning a magazine .of tape cartrdges in response to binary coded signals whereby selected cartridges in the magazine are positioned at a work station for utilization of their tape supply. Therefore,

the following detailed description of the invention primarily will be in connection with such use, but it should clearly be understood that it is not to be considered so limited.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will become clear from the following description taken with the accompanying drawings which disclose, by way of example, the principle of the invention and the best mode which has been contemplated of applying that principle.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a front elevational view of the upper portion of a magnetic tape handling apparatus inconporating the invention;

FIGURE 2 is a side elevational view of the apparatus of FIGURE 1, partially diagrammatic and with parts broken away;

FIGURE 3 is a perspective view of a portion of the selector mechanism in one operative condition;

FIGURE 4 is a view similar to FIGURE 3 but showing the mechanism in another operative condition;

FIGURE 5 is a table showing binary to decimal conversion by the arrangement of slots in the cartridge selector bars;

FIGURE 6 is a table of the slot arrangement on the selector bars;

FIGURE 7 is a wiring diagram; and

FIGURES 8, 9 and 10 are plan views of a modified selector mechanism illustrating its operation.

With reference now to the details of the drawings, and as seen in FIGURES -l and 2, the invention is illustrated as a tape cartridge positioning apparatus 10 in a mag netic tape handler or servo unit .12. The tape cartridges 14 are aligned front to back in a magazine 15 at the top of the servo unit whereby they may selectively be positioned by the apparatus .of the invention over the tape handling or utilization portion 16 of the unit. Each cartridge includes a tape supply reel 18 from which the tape 19 is threaded over idler rollers 20 to a take-up reel 22. When a selected cartridge is aligned over the tape handling area 16, as described later, tape is drawn downwardly from the open bottom of the cartridge, threaded over idler rollers 24, looped into the vacuum control columns 26, over counter rotating pneumatic capstans 28, and into operative relationship with read/write head 30.

The positioning apparatus as seen in FIGURE 2, comprises the tape magazine 15 here shown as holding six tape cartridge-14. The magazine is formed by side walls 32 and 34, rear wall 36 and a removable front wall 38. Except for the short inwardly projecting flanges 40 and 42 upon which the cartridges are seated, the bottom of the magazine is open to permit the tape 19 to be drawn downwardly through the open bottom 43 of the cartridges into the tape handling area 16 of the servo unit, as seen in FIGURE 1.

The magazine preferably is a permanent part of the servo unit with a pair of vertically aligned drive shafts 44 and 46 extending therethrough. The front of the magazine is open to permit the cartridges to be inserted therein with the shafts extending through the hubs 47 of the reels. After the magazine is filled with the six cartridges its removable front wall 38 is secured into place by any suitable means. Bearings 48 and 50 may be provided on this wall for rotatably supporting the outer free ends of the shafts.

The opposite or inner shaft ends are journalled in bearings 51 on rear wall 36 and drivingly connected to motors 52 and 54, for rotating the reels upon demand as controlled by the loop length in columns 26 in accordance with well known practice, not forming a part of the present invention. Apparatus suitable for this purpose is shown and described in the copending application Ser. No. 452,188, filed Apr. 30, 1965, in the name of Richard E.

Berryman and entitled Fluid Tape Drive System now US. Patent 3,291,410.

Each shaft is provided with key means 56 (only one of which is shown) over the tape handling area 16 for engaging only those reels moved into the Work station over this area. The shafts rotate freely through the hubs of all other reels. If desired light detent means (not shown) may be used to hold the other reels against rotation as the shafts turn freely in their hubs.

Also, as seen in FIGURE 2, the shafts extend sufiiciently forward, to the left as seen here, to permit movement of the magazine between its fully retracted position with cartridge No. 1 over area 16 and its fully extended position with cartridge No. 6, over this area. The cabinet of the servo unit may overhang the front of the unit to enclose the free ends, if desired.

The lower edges of the side walls 32 and 34 have outwardly extending flanges 58 and 60 which cooperate with guideways 62 and 64 on the servo unit to provide the means for slidably supporting the magazine.

The tape magazine is driven by the pin 66 carried by the endless belt 68 threaded over pulleys 70 and 72 rotatably mounted on a fixed panel 73. The pin extends into a vertical slot 74 in the side wall 34 of the magazine. As the belt is driven by the motor 76 through pulley 72, the pin moves forwardly and rearwardly in the path defined by the belt thus to move the magazine between its terminal retracted and extended positions. Its movement is such that each cartridge can be moved over the utilization point at area 16 wherein its reels 18 and 22 are in driving engagement with the shafts 44 and 46 as by the key means 56.

The cartridge selection means comprises a six position selector mechanism generally designated in FIGURE 2 by the reference character 78. As seen in FIGURES 3 and 4, the selector mechanism in this particular embodiment of the invention comprises three bars 80, 81 and 82 slidably mounted between two fixed abutments 84 and 86. The bars normally are biased against abutment 84 by tension springs 88. Solenoids 90, 92 and 94 are provided selectively to move the bars against abutment 86 in response to an appropriate binary input, as brought out below. Each bar is provided along its top surface with transverse slots 96 arranged in a predetermined order such that when three (one on each bar) are aligned they represent a desired digit. For example, and as seen in the table of FIGURE 5, the slots are arranged to represent the first six decimal digits when aligned along the axes A through F by selective energization of the solenoids in response to binary selection, where the solenoids 90, 92 and 94 equal the binary l, 2 and 4, respectively.

Still further, by way of example, the table of FIGURE 6 locates the positions of the slots on the various bars as measured from the abutment 86 when all bars are against it.

In FIGURE 4, the slots 96 are shown aligned along axis A for a decimal 6 in response to the binary 6 as represented by the energization of solenoids 92 and 94. A pawl 98 carried on flange 60 of the magazine, is arranged to reciprocate across the upper surfaces of the bars 80-82 between the fixed abutments 84 and 86 until it finds aligned slots, such as along the axis A in FIGURE 4, into which it will drop as urged by the compression spring 99 (FIGURE 2). The pawl 98 comprises the depending edge of a plate 100 pivotally mounted at 101 on flange of the cartridge magazine 15. When the pawl drops into aligned slots, as just described, the cartridge corresponding to that position is at the work station over the area 16 for utilization of its tape. Simultaneously, with this positioning of the selected cartridge, motor 76 is turned off, as by switch 102 actuated to its open condition by the downward movement of the plate 100, when the pawl 98 drops into the aligned slots.

When a new selection is to be made, the pawl is pivoted upwardly out of the slots as by energizing solenoid 106. The proper solenoids 90, 92 and 94 are then energized to select the cartridge. Simultaneously, the motor 76, being reactivated by the closing of switch 102, begins to move the magazine, and the pawl again moves across the upper surfaces of the bars (solenoid 106 having been deenergized) until it finds the aligned slots of the new cartridge selection and drops in. Operation of the various solenoids, as described above, and as seen in FIGURE 7, may be controlled from a suitable signal source 107, such as a computer. The motor 76 is in circuit with-switch 102, a suitable source of electricity indicated at 108, and a START switch 109.

As seen in FIGURES 8, 9 and 10, a parity check may be utilized in the present invention for indicating a malfunction, such as might occur in the activating solenoids or in the electrical lines. The use of parity bits tocheck the intelligence being operated upon in computers, hasresulted in fewer errors in that the parity bit is a part of the information.

Referring to FIGURE 8, the reference character .110 designates a slotted parity bar which is disposed parallel to the bars 80, 81 and 82 of the positioning device and which operates in a manner similar thereto. Signals representing the binary digits 1, 2 and 4 are inputs to the sole-' noids 90, 92 and 94, respectively, and a parity check bit is an input to the solenoid 112.A spring 88 biases the parity bar 110 towards the locator block 84.

Referring to FIGURES 9 and 10, binary input signals of 11l-0 causes the parity bar 110 and the bars and 81 to abut against the locator block 86; thus bringing slots on each bar into alignment along the axis D. Pawl 98 (not shown here) willnow drop into thealigned slots and, accordingly, stop. further movement of the magazine, as described above, with cartridge No. 3 at the work station.

If a malfunction occurs which causes, say, bar ,80to,

be inoperative, the slots will be disposed as shown in FIGURE 10, with no alignment of slots along any axis. As a result, the pawl will continue to reciprocate until the malfunction is corrected. If desired, electronic time delays or mechanical switches may be used to indicate this off-normal condition.

It will be understood, of course, that the invention is not to be limited by this description of the preferred em-:

bodiment. It is evident thatby slight modification additional articles, such as the tape cartridges may be handled by increasing the number of the bars and slots. Then too,

-it can be seen that instead of tape cartridges, the apparatus can be modified to eject articles at the work station simply by removing the shafts 44 and 46 and providing an ejector to push the article from the magazine.

The embodiments of the invetnion in which an ex.- clusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. A random access positioning apparatus comprising, a container for holding a plurality of sequentially arranged articles, means for moving said container between retracted and advanced terminal positions whereby each of said articles may be selectively moved to a utilization point, and means responsive to coded signals to stop said container when a selected one of said articles is at said utilization point, said last-named means comprising a plurality of elongated selector bars each having a plurality of transverse slots arranged in parallel across one face thereof, with the slots of each bar being spaced from one another by a first or a second distance accordingto a binary code, means mounting said bars side by side for individual slidable movement between advanced and retracted terminal positions, means for moving selected ones of said bars into said advanced terminal position while holding. others of said bars in said retracted terminal positionwhereby one of the slots in each bar may be aligned with one slot in each ,of the other bars, a movable detent member carried bysaid container and having a slot engaging portion extending across said bars, and means urging said slot engaging portion of said detent member against the slotted faces of said bars whereby as said container is moved be tween its advanced and its retracted positions said detent slides across said bars to engage only with the said aligned slots to stop said container with the selected article at said utilization point.

2. A construction according to claim 1, and further including means for disengaging said detent member from said aligned slots thus to permit further selections of said articles.

3. A random access positioning apparatus for magnetic tape cartridges comprising, a magazine for holding a plurality of tape cartridges in aligned arrangement, each cartridge being provided with a tape supply reel and a tape take-up reel, a fixed structure including a work station for said tape cartridge means, means mounting said magazine on said fixed structure for movement between advanced and retracted terminal positions whereby a selected one of said cartridges can be positioned at said work station, means for so moving said magazine, means for driving only those tape reels in the cartridge positioned at the work station whereby the tape at the cartridge can be utilized, means responsive to coded signals for stopping said magazine moving means when the selected one of said plurality of cartridges is at said work station, said last-named means comprising a plurality of elongated selector bars each having a plurality of transverse slots arranged in parallel across one face thereof with the slots of each bar being spaced from one another by a first or a second distance in accordance with the binary code, means for slidably moving selected ones of said bars whereby only that slot in each bar corresponding to a selected cartridge are brought into alignment, a detent member carried by said magazine having a slot engaging portion extending across said bars,

and means for urging said slot engaging portion of said detent member against the slotted faces of said bars whereby as said magazine is moved between its advanced and its retracted positions said detent slides across said bars to stop said container with the selected tape cartridge located at said work station.

4. A construction according to claim 3 and further including:

(A) an additional similarly slotted bar providing a parity check; and

(B) means for slidably moving said additional bar to align its slots with those in said selector bars according to the selected cartridge.

5. A random access positioning apparatus according to claim 4 wherein the means for moving said selector bars and parity bar are controlled by binary coded signals.

6. A construction according to claim 3 and further including means for disabling said detent means to permit further cartridge selection.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,247,275 6/1941 Buckley 197-20 2,343,721 3/1944 Van Tuyl 101-95 X 2,755,030 7/1956 dOrnellas 340174.1 X 2,838,156 6/1958 Griflith 197-53 2,966,843 1/1961 Eckley 101110 3,001,025 9/1961 Gaubert 242-55.13 X 3,168,993 2/1965 Mathieu 24255.13 3,276,560 10/1966 Wirtz 197-18 ROBERT C. BAILEY, Primary Examiner.

P. R. WOODS, Assistant Examiner. 

